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ending October, 1888, were 5s. 11d. in the pound, of which 2s. 8d. related to the maintenance
of the poor, 1s. 5½d. to the precepts of the Metropolitan Board of Works and the
School Board respectively, and 1s. 9½d. to the requirements of the Vestry, but consequent
on the rates on houses of a rating value of £20 and under being compounded for and
premises being empty, a penny in the pound, produced but £740. For the current
year ending October, 1889, due to riverside premises being unoccupied, a penny in the
pound is estimated to produce but £656.
In 1871, the ratable value was £136,697, and in 1881, £192,231; the increase in the
ratable value was therefore in the 10 years 1871-81, 46 per cent., while that of the
number of houses was 23 per cent. But from 1881 to 1888 the increase in the ratable
value has been 1.2 per cent., and the increase in the number of houses was 14.1 per cent.
Since 1881, therefore, the increase in the ratable value of the Parish has not kept pace
with the increase of requirements of sanitary administration. Beyond this, while the
precepts of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1871 required payment by Rotherhithe of
£3,251, in 1888, the amount equalled £6,870, and again, while in 1871, Rotherhithe made
no contribution to School Board expenses, in 1888, this item equalled £7,023.
The Parish of Rotherhithe, according to the last Census Report, has an area of 754
acres (exclusive of tidal water) of which 360 acres are devoted to docks, 63 acres occupied
by Southwark Park, the remaining land being covered by 5.531 houses, of which 4,660
have a ratable value of not more than £20. The greater part of the district is below
high water mark, and is protected from flooding by the river by an efficient sea wall.
The houses are for the most part brick structures, and except on the main thoroughfares,
of two stories in height, and situated in fairly wide streets. In the neighbourhood
of the river the streets are more narrow and irregular, and in this older part are to be
found courts occupied by the poorest of the inhabitants. Here, also, are a number of
timber-built houses interspersed with those which are constructed with brick. Some of
the timber-built houses are protected by brickwork to the first floor, and a proportion of
the others are covered with cement, but the majority appear to remain as they were
originally built, probably from one to two hundred years ago.
The houses, both brick and timber built, are of various descriptions. Many are
provided with an entrance passage giving access to the two rooms which are situated on
the ground floor, and to a staircase leading to the rooms on the upper floors. The top
or attic rooms are usually in the sloping roof, and sometimes of a height not greater than
six feet. In such houses the staircase is generally sufficiently lighted and ventilated except
on the attic floor.
In other houses a similar entrance passage is provided, but the staircase leading to the
upper rooms is situated between the front and back rooms, and inasmuch as the only light
which it obtains is at times when the doors of these rooms are open, for the greater part
of the day the staircase is absolutely dark, and is moreover without ventilation.
The need for the lighting and ventilation of these staircases becomes especially urgent
when the house is occupied by several families as in Rotherhithe. The largest houses in
the district are usually arranged on this plan.
The smallest houses consisting of two or three rooms, the one above the other, are
often without an entrance passage, the front door opening directly into the room on the
ground floor, access to the upper rooms being gained by a staircase situated in the lower
room. This staircase is without external ventilation, and the occupation of the ground
floor room leads to the supply of a vitiated atmosphere to those above. Such houses have
most often no space in their rear belonging to them, the watercloset under these circumstances
being situated in the front yard or by the side of the house.
Other houses are exceptionally placed back to back, but in no instance did we find
either in regard to houses so placed, or without open spaces at the rear, that there was
more than one room on each floor, and the objection to the continued occupation of such
premises is, therefore, less than where each house possesses two rooms on each floor, the
one behind the other.